The present invention relates to a compound needle having a slider for use in knitting a knitting fabric.
In general, when a double stitch or a like stitch in which an increased number of loops are formed for each single stitch is formed by use of a compound needle to knit a knitting fabric, the loops are held on a slider tongue of the compound needle repeatedly several times, and there may be cases where the loops sometimes slip off the slider tongue to cause an imperfect knitting fabric. Any slippage of the loops from the end of the slider tongue into the hook before they are knocked over presents problems for knitting stitches, not peculiar to the double stitch.
There was proposed a compound needle wherein the slider tongue is provided, at a topside thereof at the end, with a small projection so that the loops held on the tongue can be caught by the small projection to provide a hard slippage of the loops (Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 1(1989)-54459). The small projection provides the advantageous effect of holding the loops on the slider tongue reliably, while on the other hand, it provides the disadvantage of proving a hard release of the loops from the slider tongue to hinder the loops from being knocked over.
The present invention provides a compound needle comprising a needle body having a hook-shaped hook at a front end thereof and a slider which is supported on the needle body to move relative thereto in a longitudinal direction of the needle body to the hook-shaped hook so as to open and close the hook-shaped hook, so as to capture a knitting yarn and escape a knitting stitch, wherein a tongue provided at a front end portion of the slider is provided, at a front end thereof, with a drop-stitch-preventing shoulder to prevent a stitch held on the tongue of the slider from slipping off the tongue during a knitting operation, and also the hook-shaped hook is provided, on an outer edge thereof extending from a front end of a lip portion thereof toward a top thereof, with a stitch escape surface, such that when the hook-shaped hook is closed by the tongue, the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder is hidden by the stitch escape surface to facilitate a knock-over of the stitch.
It is preferable that the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder has an inclined loop holding surface, and the stitch escape surface provided on the hook has an angle of inclination smaller than that of the inclined loop holding surface.
It is preferable that when the hook-shaped hook is closed by the tongue of the slider, a part of the stitch escape surface at the front end of the lip portion of the hook is positioned at a lower level than an upper edge of the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder at the front end of the tongue of the slider with respect to a height of the hook-shaped hook between a bottom of the needle body of the hook-shaped hook and the front end of the lip portion of the hook, so that the part of the stitch escape surface is hidden by the tongue of the slider.
Further, it is preferable that the hook-shaped hook is so curved that when the hook-shaped hook is closed by the tongue of the slider, the stitch escape surface at a top of bend of the hook-shaped hook is positioned at a level at least equal to or higher than an upper edge of the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder at the front end of the tongue of the slider with respect to a height of the hook-shaped hook between a bottom of the needle body of the hook-shaped hook and the top of bend of the hook-shaped hook.
According to the present invention, the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder provided at the tongue of the slider prevents the loops held on the tongue from accidentally slipping off the tongue before the loops are knocked over. Then, when the hook-shaped hook is closed by the tongue to knock over the loops, the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder is hidden by the stitch escape surface provided on the outer edge of the hook extending from the end of the lip portion of the hook-shaped hook toward the top thereof, so that the loops are allowed to go beyond the shoulder so as to be knocked over.
Although the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder has an inclined loop holding surface to prevent the loops from slipping off the tongue, since the stitch escape surface provided on the hook is formed at an angle of inclination smaller than that of the inclined loop holding surface, the loops retained on the tongue of the slider are smoothly led to the stitch escape surface and thus are allowed to go beyond the inclined loop holding surface of the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder so as to be knocked over.
Also, since the compound needle of the present invention is so formed that when the hook-shaped hook is closed by the tongue of the slider, the front end of the lip portion of the hook is positioned at a lower level than the upper edge of the tongue of the slider, the front end of the lip portion of the hook is smoothly led into the loops.
Further, since the hook-shaped hook is so curved that the top of bend of the hook-shaped hook is positioned at a level equal to or higher than the upper edge of the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder, the loops are raised up over the drop-stitch-preventing shoulder by the top of bend of the hook-shaped hook, so that the loops can smoothly be shifted from the tongues of the slider.